Saturday, January 17, 2009
wet again
The streets aren´t safe anymore. Your walking down the street, minding your own buisness and SPLAT! your the victim of yet another waterballon attack. It could be worse, and believe me, it gets worse! This is the month for Carnival, a national holiday in many latin american countries. Carnival is actually at the end of February but the waterballoons started flying as early as December this time around. Its now getting worse. I live near several main roads and walking almost anywhere is risking getting a good soaking. I was walking the 15 mins to my language school yesterday when I took a direct hit on my shoulder. I worry mostly about my glasses getting broken (or my nose!). The balloons may be filled with ice and/or other more disgusting liquids. There is no respect in these waterballoon attacks, I draw more attention being white, but everyone is a target, young and old. So for now, I take public transportation when I can and avoid places where there are waterballoon wars on a regular basis. Although, waterballoons have been known to fly through the bus windows too!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
El Campo
Saturday @ 4AM I woke up to join my team as we headed out to the mountians. Our destination, a community at more than 14,000 ft above sea level (7,000 ft higher then Cochabamba). Our purpose... to bring a little belated Christmas cheer to a poverty strickin community in the mountians. Was it worth it? Oh yeah.
First no one was there. What in the world were we going to do with all the toys and food? Then I learned, if you bring it, they will come! And believe me, this doesn´t show even half of the kids!
And it wasn´t just kids, it was mothers and fathers too.
My team, along with six of the girls from the home, handed out toys to the kids and hot Api (a common bolivian drink) and bread to everyone. Also, about 75 families received garbage bags full of rice, flour, oil, and other such food from us as well.
Remember, these are mountian folks. Some walked for miles to come to us, they are dirty and smelly, and live in complete poverty. Giving them cheap toys and bread and drink seems like such a small thing, but to them, I would hope anyway, they saw a little bit of Jesus.
First no one was there. What in the world were we going to do with all the toys and food? Then I learned, if you bring it, they will come! And believe me, this doesn´t show even half of the kids!
And it wasn´t just kids, it was mothers and fathers too.
My team, along with six of the girls from the home, handed out toys to the kids and hot Api (a common bolivian drink) and bread to everyone. Also, about 75 families received garbage bags full of rice, flour, oil, and other such food from us as well.
Remember, these are mountian folks. Some walked for miles to come to us, they are dirty and smelly, and live in complete poverty. Giving them cheap toys and bread and drink seems like such a small thing, but to them, I would hope anyway, they saw a little bit of Jesus.
The girls home
ok, so its been a while since I´ve posted an update. Blame it on being too busy! And then being too exhausted to do much of anything else. I have been spending time in both the daycare (see previous blog) and at the girls home.
The girls home is kinda a controlled chaos, a very well controlled chaos. The girls have a pretty set schedule that includes chores,
english class (and homework classes as well),
And plenty of time for girls just to be girls.
I am in the progress of taking over half of the english classes from another volunteer and also begining some bible study type activites with the girls as well. I sometimes help out with lunch preperation and am spending a lot of time watching the girls to makes sure they aren´t cracking their skulls open with their crazy antics.
One of the hardest things that happen this week was when one of our younger girls had a migraine. She had been in bed for 2 days with this headache and was literally in agony when I saw her. She was crying non-stop and her whole body was reacting to the insane pain in her head. Sitting there next to her trying to keep her calm yet being able to do nothing was the most horrible feeling in the world. Less then an hour later, one of the house Tías took her to see a doctor where she got an injection and some pills. She came home a completely different girl!
On a brighter note, I have enjoyed watching the girls´ spontanious creativity as they put on puppet shows with barbies and act in a play. I am very nearly done learning the 22 names but I still goof up every now and then!
The girls home is kinda a controlled chaos, a very well controlled chaos. The girls have a pretty set schedule that includes chores,
english class (and homework classes as well),
And plenty of time for girls just to be girls.
I am in the progress of taking over half of the english classes from another volunteer and also begining some bible study type activites with the girls as well. I sometimes help out with lunch preperation and am spending a lot of time watching the girls to makes sure they aren´t cracking their skulls open with their crazy antics.
One of the hardest things that happen this week was when one of our younger girls had a migraine. She had been in bed for 2 days with this headache and was literally in agony when I saw her. She was crying non-stop and her whole body was reacting to the insane pain in her head. Sitting there next to her trying to keep her calm yet being able to do nothing was the most horrible feeling in the world. Less then an hour later, one of the house Tías took her to see a doctor where she got an injection and some pills. She came home a completely different girl!
On a brighter note, I have enjoyed watching the girls´ spontanious creativity as they put on puppet shows with barbies and act in a play. I am very nearly done learning the 22 names but I still goof up every now and then!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
My first week at the daycare
Before I start talking about my week, let me show you my kids! But do to privacy issues, I can not give you their names or if they are HIV positive or not. Even I do not have that information. So here they are, pics of 4 of my 5 little darlings.
This picture didn't work out so well, my little escapee was... well... escaping!
This guy is awfully cute but he is my touble maker! He doesn't eat well and sleeps only when he feels like it! He's 8 months old.
He is my hyper one, never met a baby that doesn't like to be held! He wants his freedom and is well on his way to walking, he's 8 months old.
She is my little escapee! She's 1 year 2 months but not walking yet and quite chubby. Ever opportunity she gets she's making her way out the door, and the door is too big for a gate.
And she is my most precious doll baby. She is 5 months old and trying really really hard to roll over but she hasn't made it quite yet. She's come a long way in a week, when I first started she didn't know how to drink from a bottle, she downs them in no time at all now.
And this is how I like them the best! If I'm lucky, I have maybe an hour during the day in which they are all sleeping!
Not shown is my big kid. She's 1 1/2 years and walking all over creation.
So I spent my first week working only with the daycare for a number of reasons, which is fine with me. It is so close to my apt that I can walk there in 5 mins. My day begins at 8:30 AM when the kids arrive. Remember, this is a daycare to help families effected by HIV and AIDS. All the parents are positive and some of our kids are, some of them are not, and some of them are too young to test. There are 4 other older kids that come that I am not responsible for.
So the schedule looks something like this for the babies. Eat breakfast (bottle and babyfood), change diaper, bath, clean clothes, bottle if needed to go down for the morning nap. If they went to sleep like good babies, they get up at 12 and get changed and ready for lunch, lots of downtime just playing in the playroom. 1pm lunch and then bottle and naptime again, if they go down nicely they sleep till 4. 4:30 is another bottle and diaper change and change back into their clothes and wait for the parents. I normally leave at like 5:30 or so. I do have some help from the Bolivian workers as I can't change one kid and keep eyes on the others.
It is very important for these kids to eat a lot and get good nutrition. They also recieve medication (not from me) and are regularly monitered by a doctor. If any of them arrive sick they are turned away as to not infect the others. We sanititize everything after every child too. It is exhausting work and I smell and am starving when I leave there. I love these babies so much I can't even tell you. After the first of the year I will be there only every other day to guard against burnout. The other days I will be at the girls home helping with the 22 girls that live there. Update on Christmas week coming soon!
This picture didn't work out so well, my little escapee was... well... escaping!
This guy is awfully cute but he is my touble maker! He doesn't eat well and sleeps only when he feels like it! He's 8 months old.
He is my hyper one, never met a baby that doesn't like to be held! He wants his freedom and is well on his way to walking, he's 8 months old.
She is my little escapee! She's 1 year 2 months but not walking yet and quite chubby. Ever opportunity she gets she's making her way out the door, and the door is too big for a gate.
And she is my most precious doll baby. She is 5 months old and trying really really hard to roll over but she hasn't made it quite yet. She's come a long way in a week, when I first started she didn't know how to drink from a bottle, she downs them in no time at all now.
And this is how I like them the best! If I'm lucky, I have maybe an hour during the day in which they are all sleeping!
Not shown is my big kid. She's 1 1/2 years and walking all over creation.
So I spent my first week working only with the daycare for a number of reasons, which is fine with me. It is so close to my apt that I can walk there in 5 mins. My day begins at 8:30 AM when the kids arrive. Remember, this is a daycare to help families effected by HIV and AIDS. All the parents are positive and some of our kids are, some of them are not, and some of them are too young to test. There are 4 other older kids that come that I am not responsible for.
So the schedule looks something like this for the babies. Eat breakfast (bottle and babyfood), change diaper, bath, clean clothes, bottle if needed to go down for the morning nap. If they went to sleep like good babies, they get up at 12 and get changed and ready for lunch, lots of downtime just playing in the playroom. 1pm lunch and then bottle and naptime again, if they go down nicely they sleep till 4. 4:30 is another bottle and diaper change and change back into their clothes and wait for the parents. I normally leave at like 5:30 or so. I do have some help from the Bolivian workers as I can't change one kid and keep eyes on the others.
It is very important for these kids to eat a lot and get good nutrition. They also recieve medication (not from me) and are regularly monitered by a doctor. If any of them arrive sick they are turned away as to not infect the others. We sanititize everything after every child too. It is exhausting work and I smell and am starving when I leave there. I love these babies so much I can't even tell you. After the first of the year I will be there only every other day to guard against burnout. The other days I will be at the girls home helping with the 22 girls that live there. Update on Christmas week coming soon!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Apartment
I am now starting my second week being back in Bolivia. And what a whirlwind it has been. It can only be described as my second culture shock. I say this because for my first year I was living with host families. I never had to deal with relators and finding a place to stay, I never had to wait for things to be repaired in the house, I never had to buy my own food (except snacks), I never had to pay bills or anything like that. So needless to say, these last two weeks have been... educational.
I ended up renting the first apartment that I saw. The first shock came when I discovered that for the location and security level I wanted, I was not going to be able to get an apt with what I budgeted. So I crunched some numbers and made it work. The apt is 3 bedrooms, one of which I hope to rent out short/long term. It has a decent sized kitchen and a good refrigerator (most here are very small), dining room/living room big enough to host the International Bible Study. It´s mostly hard wood floors except the bedrooms, it has two bathrooms. I did get it fully furnished which has saved me a TON of money. Just getting the things for my kitchen, cleaning supplies, TV, ect has cost me more than I anticipated. The location is perfect as I´m right in the middle of everything and have a lot of public transportation options and walking distance to many things as well. The downside, its kinda noisy. Dogs across the street bark almost constantly, traffic noise, occasional concerts and fireworks, ect. But all these things I´m getting use to and sleep quite well at night. The apt was also kinda a fixer upper and I knew that when I moved in. There was a really bad electrical porblem in the kitchen and about half the lights in the apt were burned out. After a week of people coming and going everything is just about done. One door knob still needs to be replaced and the rest of the curtians hung and the area rug delivered. Otherwise its perfect :) Pictures coming soon!
In other news, I´ve been rather anxious to get settled so that I can start working with my new ministry. At this point I´ll be doing half my days at the AIDS daycare and the other half at the Home. I´ve learned that not all the kids at the daycare are postive. Most are too young to test but all the parents are positive and the purpose is to help families that are living with HIV or AIDS. There are 7-8 babies that come daily with a possibility of twice as many. They get baths and heath checks everyday and are feed VERY well with lots of fruits and veggies. The normal bolivian diet is meat, potatoes, and rice. Not good nutrition for these kids.
So this week, if all goes planned (and thats a big ¨if¨), I will sign my lease on Monday and get some legal stuff done with that. And then Tuesday I will run around with my team leader from Operation Harvest and do some visa stuff (blood test, fingerprints, ect). And then start working on Wednesday! Woohoo!
I ended up renting the first apartment that I saw. The first shock came when I discovered that for the location and security level I wanted, I was not going to be able to get an apt with what I budgeted. So I crunched some numbers and made it work. The apt is 3 bedrooms, one of which I hope to rent out short/long term. It has a decent sized kitchen and a good refrigerator (most here are very small), dining room/living room big enough to host the International Bible Study. It´s mostly hard wood floors except the bedrooms, it has two bathrooms. I did get it fully furnished which has saved me a TON of money. Just getting the things for my kitchen, cleaning supplies, TV, ect has cost me more than I anticipated. The location is perfect as I´m right in the middle of everything and have a lot of public transportation options and walking distance to many things as well. The downside, its kinda noisy. Dogs across the street bark almost constantly, traffic noise, occasional concerts and fireworks, ect. But all these things I´m getting use to and sleep quite well at night. The apt was also kinda a fixer upper and I knew that when I moved in. There was a really bad electrical porblem in the kitchen and about half the lights in the apt were burned out. After a week of people coming and going everything is just about done. One door knob still needs to be replaced and the rest of the curtians hung and the area rug delivered. Otherwise its perfect :) Pictures coming soon!
In other news, I´ve been rather anxious to get settled so that I can start working with my new ministry. At this point I´ll be doing half my days at the AIDS daycare and the other half at the Home. I´ve learned that not all the kids at the daycare are postive. Most are too young to test but all the parents are positive and the purpose is to help families that are living with HIV or AIDS. There are 7-8 babies that come daily with a possibility of twice as many. They get baths and heath checks everyday and are feed VERY well with lots of fruits and veggies. The normal bolivian diet is meat, potatoes, and rice. Not good nutrition for these kids.
So this week, if all goes planned (and thats a big ¨if¨), I will sign my lease on Monday and get some legal stuff done with that. And then Tuesday I will run around with my team leader from Operation Harvest and do some visa stuff (blood test, fingerprints, ect). And then start working on Wednesday! Woohoo!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Back in Bolivia
I have arrived safely back in Bolivia. I am staying with a missionary friend for a few days until I am able to rent an apartment. Getting the apt and then getting the unpacking and shopping done is the first thing I have to do and then I have to run about 100 errands associated with getting my residency visa (my current visa is only good for 30 days). I am very much looking forward to getting aquainted with my new orphanage and AIDS daycare.
Everyone was asking me before I left if I was ready to go back. And the answer is definelty YES! I loved being home but I had A LOT of down time, esp during the week. And I missed being busy, having a job, a reason for getting up in the morning. I also missed all the good excersize that I get here in Coch.
Rainy season has begun and it rains off and on most days. The ¨real¨ rainy season is in Jan and Feb were it might rain non-stop all day. Coch doesn´t see to much flooding but the sewers can´t keep up with a down poor so streets might be rivers for a few hours. And the market in the rain is just a slick, disgusting mess. I try to avoid it in rainy season if I can.
Politically things are quiet and will be (we think) until the vote on the constitution at the end of Jan. Happy Holidays everyone!
Everyone was asking me before I left if I was ready to go back. And the answer is definelty YES! I loved being home but I had A LOT of down time, esp during the week. And I missed being busy, having a job, a reason for getting up in the morning. I also missed all the good excersize that I get here in Coch.
Rainy season has begun and it rains off and on most days. The ¨real¨ rainy season is in Jan and Feb were it might rain non-stop all day. Coch doesn´t see to much flooding but the sewers can´t keep up with a down poor so streets might be rivers for a few hours. And the market in the rain is just a slick, disgusting mess. I try to avoid it in rainy season if I can.
Politically things are quiet and will be (we think) until the vote on the constitution at the end of Jan. Happy Holidays everyone!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Political Update
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/11/01/bolivia.dea/index.html
If you would like to know the current political situation in Bolivia you can click on the link above. My team leaders inform me the next vote on the constitution is scheduled for Jan. 25th 2009.
I continue to visit with supporters of all kinds while I'm visiting the United States. I am also doing a lot of paperwork (its a nightmare, trust me) to be able to apply for my residency visa when I return to Bolivia.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!
If you would like to know the current political situation in Bolivia you can click on the link above. My team leaders inform me the next vote on the constitution is scheduled for Jan. 25th 2009.
I continue to visit with supporters of all kinds while I'm visiting the United States. I am also doing a lot of paperwork (its a nightmare, trust me) to be able to apply for my residency visa when I return to Bolivia.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!
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